This invention relates to fishing equipment and, in particular, in a fishing rod having a handle member supporting a fishing reel, to the improvement comprising, a separate trigger and means for removably fastening the trigger to the reel so as to compress the rod handle member between the fishing reel and the trigger and firmly hold both the trigger and the reel to the rod handle member.
Many fishing rods are made with a handle which permits the user to select any particular reel from a wide assortment and attach it to the rod. The advantage is that the same rod may be used with many different types of reel. One such fishing rod is illustrated in FIG. 1, wherein the rod 100 has a cylindrically shaped handle 105 to which a fishing reel 110 is attached by a pair of clamps 115, 120. The clamps 115, 120 are tightly wrapped around the handle 105 and over a base 125 which is part of the reel 110 and extends therefrom for such mounting purposes. The advantage of this arrangement is that the reel 110 can be of any size or configuration as long as the clamps 115, 120 conform to the cylindrical shape of the handle 105. Thus, the rod 100 affords flexibility in choosing the type of reel to be attached to it. Also, any type of rod can have a reel attached in this manner without the necessity of the rod including built-in reel clamps. A major disadvantage is that the clamps may cut the fingers of the fisherman when the rod is used. This is particularly true when (as is quite common) worm drive radiator hose clamps are employed as the clamps 115, 120.
Another advantage of this type of fishing rod is that other accessories may also be attached to the handle 105, as desired. For example, some fishermen prefer to have a trigger on the handle for their index finger to grasp, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,482,192 to MacDonald. Such an arrangement is illustrated in FIG. 2. A fishing rod 200 includes a handle 205 to which a fishing reel 210 is attached by a pair of clamps 215, 220 wrapped over its base 225 and around the handle 205. In addition to fastening the reel 210 to the rod 200, the clamp 215 is also used to attach an "add-on" trigger 230 as shown. The arrangement of FIG. 2 permits flexibility in selecting the various features to be attached to the handle 205. In an arrangement such as that of FIG. 2, the clamp 215 can experience severe stress during vigorous use of the fishing rod 200 (such as during bait-casting) because all forces on the trigger 230 and roughly half the forces on the reel must be sustained by the clamp 215. If the clamps 215, 220 and/or the base 225 fail, the reel 210 may become detached from the fishing rod 200 and lost. The disadvantage of the arrangement of FIG. 2 is that attaching the trigger 230 by means of the clamp 215 increases the stress on the clamp 215 so that it is more liable to fail during strenuous casting, a significant problem. Another problem exists where clamps such as radiator hose clamps are employed. Putting the trigger adjacent the clamp merely increases the chance of the fisherman being cut by the clamp when casting, for example.
One partial solution to this problem is to separately attach the trigger to the handle without using any of the fasteners holding the reel to the handle. This approach is exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 834,571 (Galbraith), 2,018,923 (Potter), 2,186,515 (Yuncker), 2,230,229 (Benson) and 4,398,369 (Wiebe).
Regardless of the manner in which the trigger is attached to the handle or whether it is attached at all, the basic configuration illustrated in FIG. 1 suffers from a fundamental problem that the clamps 115, 120 and, primarily, base 125 are liable to failure during casting (for example) because their strength is limited by the size and method of attachment of the parts. Thus, this method of attachment provides flexibility in the choice of reel; but, limits the reliability with which the reel 110 is held to the handle 105.
One way of providing a trigger on the handle without increasing the probability of the reel to becoming detached is to permanently attach the trigger to the handle, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. This approach permits a stronger attachment of the trigger to the handle without stressing any of the fasteners holding the reel to the handle, so that the entire assembly is stronger. However, this approach does not enjoy the flexibility of the technique of FIG. 2. The permanent trigger 330 of FIG. 3 is typical of folding triggers such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 814,321 (Pepper), 3,229,405 (Veeder) and 4,229,898 (Urakami). The permanent trigger 430 of FIG. 4 is typical of stationary triggers such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,699,622 (Stevens), 3,451,156 (Barnes), 3,618,253 (Edwards et al.), 3,792,546 (Miller) and 4,648,195 (Kim). The patent to Stevens U.S. Pat. No. 2,699,622) discloses a trigger which is detachable by means of a pair of screws; but, which is exchangable only with those triggers having screw holes identically matching those of the original trigger so that the trigger is not an "add-on" trigger of the type illustrated in FIG. 2.
In summary, it would seem that the "add-on" flexibility with which the trigger and reel of FIG. 2 may be selected and the reliably strong fastening of the trigger to the handle exemplified in FIGS. 3 and 4 are mutually exclusive features. Thus, in the prior art approaches, there appears to be no practical way of realizing both features (flexibility and reliability) in the same fishing rod assembly. Therefore, it is recognized in the present invention that there is a need to provide a fishing rod in which both features are realized.
There is also a need to enhance the strength with which a removable reel (such as that illustrated in FIG. 1) is fastened to the handle of the fishing rod.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fishing pole assembly having an "add-on" trigger which is reliably fastened to the handle of the fishing pole without detracting from the strength with which the fishing reel is attached to the handle.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a fishing rod assembly having an "add-on" trigger which is not only itself reliably fastened to the handle; but, which also supplements the strength with which the fishing reel is attached to the handle.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an "add-on" trigger having a fastening device which not only reliably holds the trigger to the rod handle but further strengthens the fastening of the reel to the handle.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a fastening device for an "add-on" trigger which fastens to a major structural member of the fishing reel so as to enhance the strength with which both the trigger and the reel are held to the rod handle.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a fastening device for an "add-on" trigger which fastens to the fishing reel so as to compress the fishing rod handle between the trigger fastening device and the reel.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a fastening device for an "add-on" trigger which fastens to at least one of the bottom cross-bars of the fishing reel so as to compress the fishing pole handle between the trigger fastening device and the reel.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide, in a fishing rod having a reel attached to its handle by fastening grips, a fastening device for an "add-on" trigger which fastens to at least one of the bottom cross-bars of the fishing reel so as to compress the fishing rod handle between the trigger fastening device and the base of the reel and thereby supplement the fastening grips of the reel.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide an "add-on" trigger which also securely fastens the fishing reel to the fishing pole handle thereby eliminating the necessity for separate clamps otherwise required for that purpose.
Other objects and benefits of the invention will become apparent from the description which follows when taken in conjunction with the drawing figures which accompany it.